New conflict office draws plenty of it

From the Palm Beach Post:

It’s supposed to save the state millions in spiraling costs and fees paid to private attorneys who represent poor defendants, but some local lawyers and judicial leaders have growing concerns about a new agency that will handle cases declined by public defender’s offices.

The legislature this year created a law that upended the way these cases - along with cases of child dependency and termination of parental rights involving poor parents - will be handled.

Supporters believe the new system will be more economical. But with a state deadline looming to have the agency up and running in January, lawyers from the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach County and elsewhere in Florida are becoming increasingly vocal about fears that not enough money has been allocated to it and that its lawyers will be stretched too thin.

The people ultimately left in the lurch, they argue, will be the poor defendants and parents.

“I think it’s an ill-thought-out law,” said Fort Pierce lawyer Dawn Kirk, who handles child dependency cases. “My main concern is whether these people will get competent representation. It will cost the state in the long run if the system fails. I want to be optimistic, but no one has given me reason to be.”

The five lawyers Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Aug. 22 to head the districts have a huge task: They must create their offices from the ground up in the next 21/2 months. Not only do they have to hire lawyers and a support staff, they have to acquire office space from the counties in their districts.

“When public defenders are elected, they walk into a turnkey operation,” said Philip Massa, a former assistant attorney general who will lead the regional office that serves Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. “Everything is already set up. Same thing with state attorneys and judges.

“We have nothing. We are literally starting from scratch.”

Some counties are not happy about the law’s requirement that county taxpayers must bear the burden of providing office space and paying other facility costs.

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